The economy will not realise the full benefits of the gas resource if the country fails to establish an additioanl gas processing plant in the short term, a Gas Consultant to the Minister for Petroleum, Dr Ben Asante, has said.
With additional gas inflows expected from new fields such as the Tweneboa-Enyenra-Ntomme (TEN) project, Mr Asante said the country, as a matter of urgency, required a second plant to refine the gas for industrial and domestic use.
“It will require us to have a second gas processing plant, and l am talking very soon,” he said in Accra.
Currently, the Atuabo Gas Prcoessing Plant, which is run by the Ghana Gas Company Limited, processes 120 million metric standard cubic feet of gas per day (mmscfpd) from the Jubilee Field.
The field produces 150 mmscfpd.
“This means, we are just at the height of that processing plant,” Mr Asante, who advises teh Petroleum Minister on gas issues, said at the 3rd Ghana Gas Forum in Accra.
The 2015 edition which is the 3rd in the series of the Ghana Gas Forum (GGF) 2015 was on the theme, “Harnessing Ghana’s Gas Potential” and brought together policy makers, players and stakeholders to tackle emerging issues in the natural gas industry.
Currently, the 150 Million Metric Standard Cubic Feet per day (mmscfpd) Ghana Gas Processing Plant at Atuabo in the Western Region processes gas from the Jubilee Fields at a production capacity of 120 mmscfpd.
The TEN project, whose Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) would have a facility production capacity of 80,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) is expected to provide some natural gas to be processed for both the thermal plants and domestic consumption.
The Head of Business Development at the Volta River Authority (VRA), Mr Kofi Ellis, who also added his voice to the explained that “the present FPSO by Ghana gas is producing about 120 mmscfpd and with the additional fields, that single one would not be sufficient.”
The first gas processing plant, which was recently commissioned, would save the country money it used in buying crude oil for power generation, and also check the environmentally hazardous practice of natural gas flaring.
Consensus at forum
After extensive discussions that reviewed sector activities and additionally touched on areas such as Ghana’s Gas Master Plan, gas requirements and the role of LNG, Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs), infrastructure development, gas policy considerations and negotiations as well as institutional roles, participants at the two-day forum arrived at a consensus on issues relating to the gas sector.
According to them, participants called for a clearly defined gas policy that targeted the development of the human resource capacity to compete and win in a globally competitive industry. Failing this outcome, Ghana could lose on investments that would flow to other jurisdictions and face challenges in relation to local participation and ownership.
They also called for a greater effort towards the expansion of discussions on gas utilisation beyond the power sector to ensure the development of other natural gas utilisation options that would drive economic and social development. Participants recognised that while the availability of gas was important to solving Ghana’s power crisis, there had to be a balance of a range of power generating technologies to ensure security of supply.
The development of the Gas Master Plan serves as an opportunity to align the gas sector with Ghana’s broader industrialisation drive. Such an effort will lead to greater clarity on the country’s vision for the gas sector and strategic implementation of relevant sector plans.
Participants also called for greater clarity in the establishment of institutional roles and market players’ responsibilities such that overlapping functions and redundancies are avoided. This is to help further strengthen the decision-making processes at the top. GB
PULL QUOTE
It will require us to have a second gas processing plant, and am talking very soon. The current Ghana gas processing capacity is 150 mmscfpd and jubilee is currently doing 120 mmscfpd. This means we are just at the height of that processing plant.
80,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) is expected to provide some natural gas to be processed for both the thermal plants and domestic consumption.
The Head of Business Development at the Volta River Authority (VRA), Mr Kofi Ellis, who also added his voice to the explained that “the present FPSO by Ghana gas is producing about 120 mmscfpd and with the additional fields, that single one would not be sufficient.”
The first gas processing plant, which was recently commissioned, would save the country money it used in buying crude oil for power generation, and also check the environmentally hazardous practice of natural gas flaring.
Consensus at forum
After extensive discussions that reviewed sector activities and additionally touched on areas such as Ghana’s Gas Master Plan, gas requirements and the role of LNG, Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs), infrastructure development, gas policy considerations and negotiations as well as institutional roles, participants at the two-day forum arrived at a consensus on issues relating to the gas sector.
According to them, participants called for a clearly defined gas policy that targeted the development of the human resource capacity to compete and win in a globally competitive industry. Failing this outcome, Ghana could lose on investments that would flow to other jurisdictions and face challenges in relation to local participation and ownership.
They also called for a greater effort towards the expansion of discussions on gas utilisation beyond the power sector to ensure the development of other natural gas utilisation options that would drive economic and social development. Participants recognised that while the availability of gas was important to solving Ghana’s power crisis, there had to be a balance of a range of power generating technologies to ensure security of supply.
The development of the Gas Master Plan serves as an opportunity to align the gas sector with Ghana’s broader industrialisation drive. Such an effort will lead to greater clarity on the country’s vision for the gas sector and strategic implementation of relevant sector plans.
Participants also called for greater clarity in the establishment of institutional roles and market players’ responsibilities such that overlapping functions and redundancies are avoided. This is to help further strengthen the decision-making processes at the top.